Gasoline Alley
Encyclopedia
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
created by Frank King and currently distributed by Tribune Media Services
Tribune Media Services
Tribune Media Services is a syndication company owned by the Tribune Company.The company has two divisions, "News and Features" and "Entertainment Products"...
. First published November 24, 1918, it is the second longest running comic strip in the US and has received critical accolades for its influential innovations. In addition to inventive color and page design concepts, King introduced real-time continuity to comic strips by showing his characters as they grew to maturity and aged over generations.
Early years
The strip originated on the Chicago TribuneChicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
s black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
Sunday page, The Rectangle, where staff artists contributed one-shot panels, continuing plots or themes. One corner of The Rectangle introduced King's Gasoline Alley, where characters Walt, Doc, Avery and Bill held weekly conversations about automobiles. This panel slowly gained recognition, and the daily strip began August 24, 1919 in the New York Daily News.
Skeezix arrives
The early years were dominated by the character Walt Wallet. Tribune editor Joseph PattersonJoseph Medill Patterson
Joseph Medill Patterson was an American journalist and publisher, grandson of publisher Joseph Medill, founder of the Chicago Tribune and a mayor of Chicago, Illinois.-Family:...
wanted to attract women to the strip by introducing a baby, but Walt was not married. That obstacle was avoided when Walt found a baby on his doorstep, as described by comics historian Don Markstein
Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia was a web encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation. Don D...
:
- After a couple of years, the Tribunes editor, Captain Joseph Patterson, whose influence would later have profound effects on such strips as Terry and the PiratesTerry and the PiratesTerry and the Pirates is the title of:* Terry and the Pirates , the comic strip created by Milton Caniff* Terry and the Pirates , a radio serial based on the comic strip...
and Little Orphan AnnieLittle Orphan AnnieLittle Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and made its debut on August 5, 1924 in the New York Daily News...
, decided the strip should have something to appeal to women, as well, and suggested King add a baby. Only problem was the main character, Walt Wallet, was a confirmed bachelor. On February 14, 1921, Walt found the necessary baby abandoned on his doorstep. That was the day Gasoline Alley entered history as the first comic strip in which the characters aged normally. (Hairbreadth Harry had grown up in his strip, but stopped aging in his early 20s.) The baby, named Skeezix (cowboy slang for a motherless calf), grew up, fought in World War II, and is now a retired grandfather. Walt married after all, and had more children, who had children of their own. More characters entered the storyline on the periphery and some grew to occupy center stage.
Skeezix called his adopted father Uncle Walt. Unlike most comic strip children (like the Katzenjammer Kids or Little Orphan Annie) he did not remain a baby or even a little boy for long. He grew up to manhood, the first occasion where real time continually elapsed in a major comic strip over generations. By the time the United States entered World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Skeezix was a fully-grown adult, courting girls and serving in the armed forces. He later married Nina Clock and had children. In the late 1960s he faced a typical midlife crisis
Midlife Crisis
"Midlife Crisis" is a song by the American rock band Faith No More. It was released on May 26, 1992 as the first single from their fourth album, Angel Dust...
. Walt Wallet himself had married Phyllis Blossom and had other children, who grew up and had kids of their own. During the 1970s and 1980s, under Dick Moores
Dick Moores
Richard Arnold Moores was an American cartoonist whose best known work was the comic strip Gasoline Alley, which he worked on for nearly three decades.-Early Life:...
' authorship, the characters briefly stopped aging. When Jim Scancarelli
Jim Scancarelli
James Scancarelli , known professionally as Jim Scancarelli, is an American cartoonist who has been writing and drawing the syndicated comic strip Gasoline Alley for Tribune Media Services since 1986...
took over, the natural aging was restored.
Sunday strips
The Sunday stripSunday strip
A Sunday strip is a newspaper comic strip format, where comic strips are printed in the Sunday newspaper, usually in a special section called the Sunday comics, and virtually always in color. Some readers called these sections the Sunday funnies...
was launched in 1920. The 1930s Sunday pages did not always employ traditional gags but often offered a gentle view of nature, imaginary daydreaming with expressive art or naturalistic views of small town life. Reviewing Peter Maresca and Chris Ware
Chris Ware
Franklin Christenson Ware , is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, widely known for his Acme Novelty Library series and the graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he resides in the Chicago area, Illinois...
's Sundays with Walt and Skeezix (Sunday Press Books, 2007), comics critic Steve Duin quoted writer Jeet Heer:
- "Unlike the daily strips, which traced narratives that went on for many months, the Sunday pages almost always worked as discrete units," Heer writes. "Whereas the dailiesDaily stripA daily strip is a newspaper comic strip format, appearing on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays....
allowed events to unfold, Sunday was the day to savor experiences and ruminate on life. It is in his Sunday pages that we find King showing his visual storytelling skills at their most developed: with sequences beautifully testifying to his love of nature, his feeling for artistic form, and his deeply felt response to life."
Recent years
The strip is still published in newspapers. Walt Wallet is now well over a century old (111, as of March 2011), while Skeezix has become an octogenarian. Walt's wife Phyllis, age an estimated 105, died in the April 26, 2004 strip, leaving Walt a widower after nearly eight decades of marriage. Walt Wallet appeared as a guest at Blondie and DagwoodBlondie (comic strip)
Blondie is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Chic Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip has been published in newspapers since September 8, 1930...
's anniversary party, and on Gasoline Alleys 90th anniversary Blondie
Blondie (comic strip)
Blondie is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Chic Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip has been published in newspapers since September 8, 1930...
, Dennis the Menace
Dennis the Menace (U.S.)
Dennis the Menace is a daily syndicated newspaper comic strip originally created, written and illustrated by Hank Ketcham. It debuted on March 12, 1951 in 16 newspapers and was originally distributed by Post-Hall Syndicate...
and Snuffy Smith
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, originally Barney Google, is a long-running American comic strip created by cartoonist Billy DeBeck . Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a huge international readership, appearing in 900 newspapers in 21 countries...
each acknowledged the Gasoline Alley anniversary in their dialogue. Snuffy Smith presented a character crossover with Walt in the doorway of Snuffy's house where he was being welcomed and invited in by Snuffy.
First generation characters
Walt Wallet- Full name Walter Weatherby Wallet. Patriarch of the family. For many years he ran a successful company. He has been retired for years.
Phyllis Blossom Wallet.
- Walt's wife. They married June 24, 1926. She died April 26, 2004.
Avery
- Walt's cranky neighbor, who drove an old car that started with a crank long after everyone else had bought a car with a starter. He died "off-stage."
Bill
- He also died "off-stage".
Doc
- He retired with a young woman on his arm, going off to a well-deserved retirement community. He died "off-stage".
Pert
- A rich and miserly man. He was long the villain of many stories. Since his death his reputation has been rehabilitated a little bit, and shown to have a better character than his nephew, Senator Bobble.
Timeless characters
These characters break the strip's rule about aging with the calendar.Joel
- Trashman. He drives a wagon drawn by a mule.
Rufus
- A "good-for-not-much". He frequently accompanies Joel. He always has "kitty" hanging from the crook of his arm. He lives in a shack.
Magnus
- Rufus' no-good brother. He is usually in jail.
Melba
- At one time mayor of the city.
Second generation characters
Allison "Skeezix" Wallet- After Walt, the central character of the strip. He was left on Walt's doorstep February 14, 1921. He was born February 9, 1921. He married Nina Clock on June 28th, 1944. For years he ran the Gasoline Alley Garage. Now he sometimes minds it when Clovia and Slim are away.
Nina Clock Wallet
- Skeezix's wife.
Corky Wallet
- Walt and Phyllis' son, born May 2, 1928. He married Hope Hassel on October 1, 1949. He runs a diner in a standalone building.
Hope Hassel Wallet
- Corky's wife.
Judy Wallet Grubb
- Left in Walt's car February 28, 1935. She married Gideon Grubb on May 4, 1961.
Senator Bobble
- Pert's nephew. An example of a self-serving politician. When seen he is disliked and is often the villain of the current story.
Writer-artist chronology
- Frank King (1918-1959)
- Bill PerryBill Perry (comics)William M. Perry was best known as an assistant on, and later a primary artist for, the Gasoline Alley comic strip. He was born in Chicago....
(Sunday strips only, 1951-1975) - Dick Moores (1956-1986)
- Jim Scancarelli (1986-present)
King was succeeded by his former assistants, with Bill Perry taking responsibility for Sunday strips in 1951 and Dick Moores, first hired in 1956, becoming sole writer and artist for the daily strip in 1959. When Perry retired in 1975, Moores took responsibility for Sunday strips as well, combining the daily and Sunday stories into one continuity starting September 28, 1975. Moores died in 1986, and since then Gasoline Alley has been written and drawn by Scancarelli, former assistant to Moores.
Awards
The strip and King were recognized with the National Cartoonists SocietyNational Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops...
's Humor Strip Award in 1957, 1973, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1985. King received the 1958 Society's Reuben Award, and Moores received it in 1974. Scancarelli received the Society's Story Comic Strip Award in 1988. The strip received an NCS plaque for the year's best story strip in 1981, 1982 and 1983.
Reprint collections
Examples of the full page Sunday strip were printed in The Comic Strip Century (1995, reissued in 2004 as 100 Years of Comic Strips), edited by Bill BlackbeardBill Blackbeard
William Elsworth Blackbeard , better known as Bill Blackbeard, was a writer-editor and the founder-director of the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art, a comprehensive collection of comic strips and cartoon art from American newspapers...
, Dale Crain and James Vance. Moores' dailies and Sundays have appeared in Comics Revue
Comics Revue
Comics Revue is a bi-monthly small press comic book published by Manuscript Press and edited by Rick Norwood. Don Markstein edited the publication from 1984 to 1987 and 1992 to 1996....
monthly, as have the first Scancarelli strips. In 1995, the strip was one of 20 included in the Comic Strip Classics
Comic Strip Classics
The Comic Strip Classics series of commemorative postage stamps was issued by the US Postal Service in 1995 to honor the centennial of the newspaper comic strip....
series of commemorative US postage stamps.
Frank King's Gasoline Alley Nostalgia Journal In 2003, Spec Productions began a series of softcover collections, Frank King's Gasoline Alley Nostalgia Journal, reprinting the strip from the first Rectangle panel (November 24, 1918). To date, four volumes have appeared:
- Volume 1, November 24, 1918 to September 22, 1919
- Volume 2, September 23, 1919 to March 2, 1920
- Volume 3, March 3, 1920 to July 25, 1920
- Volume 4, July 26, 1920 to December 31, 1920
Walt and Skeezix
In 2005, the first of a series of reprint books, Walt and Skeezix, was published by Drawn and QuarterlyDrawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s...
and edited by Chris Ware
Chris Ware
Franklin Christenson Ware , is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, widely known for his Acme Novelty Library series and the graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he resides in the Chicago area, Illinois...
. The first volume covers 1921–22, beginning when baby Skeezix appears. These reprint only the daily strips, with Sundays slated to appear in another series:
Sunday Press
In 2007, Sunday Press Books published Sundays with Walt and Skeezix, which collects early Sunday strips in the original size and color.Dick Moores
Moores' work on the strip was published in three different collections, all currently out of print:Nat Hentoff
Nathan Irving "Nat" Hentoff is an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media and writes regularly on jazz and country music for The Wall Street Journal....
, history of the strip with 1970s continuities. ISBN 0-380-00761-4
Radio
Bill Idelson
Bill Idelson was an actor and scriptwriter best known for his teenage role as Rush Gook on the radio comedy Vic and Sade and his later, recurring television role on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the 1960s, before making a distinguished third career as a television writer, director and producer....
as Skeezix with Jean Gillespie as Nina Clock. Jimmy McCallion was Skeezix in the series that ran on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from February 17 to April 11, 1941, continuing on the Blue Network
Blue Network
The Blue Network, and its immediate predecessor, the NBC Blue Network, were the on-air names of an American radio production and distribution service from 1927 to 1945...
from April 28 to May 9 of that same year. The 15-minute series aired weekdays at 5:30pm. Along with Nina (Janice Gilbert), the characters included Skeezix's boss Wumple (Cliff Soubier) and Ling Wee (Junius Matthews), a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. Charles Schenck directed the scripts by Kane Campbell.
The syndicated series of 1948-49 featured a cast of Bill Lipton, Mason Adams
Mason Adams
Mason Adams was an American character actor and voice-over artist.-Early life:Adams was born in Brooklyn, New York. He earned an MA degree from the University of Michigan in Theatre Arts and Speech and also attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, studying theater arts...
and Robert Dryden. Sponsored by Autolite, the program used opening theme music by the Polka Dots, a harmonica group. The 15-minute episodes focused on Skeezix running a gas station and garage, the Wallet and Bobble Garage, with his partner, Wilmer Bobble. In New York, this series aired on WOR from July 16, 1948 to January 7, 1949.
Films
Gasoline Alley was adapted into two feature films, Gasoline Alley (1951) and Corky of Gasoline Alley (1951), replacing the BlondieBlondie (film)
Blondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
film series
Film series
A film series is a collection of related films in succession. Their relationship is not fixed, but generally share a common diegetic world. Sometimes the work is conceived as a multiple-film work, for example the Three Colours series, but in most cases the success of the original film inspires...
which ended in 1950 with Beware of Blondie. The films starred Jimmy Lydon
Jimmy Lydon
Jimmy Lydon is an American movie actor and television producer, whose career in the entertainment industry began as a teenage actor in the 1930s....
as Skeezix, known at that time for Life with Father
Life with Father
Life with Father is the title of a humorous autobiographical book of stories compiled in 1935 by Clarence Day, Jr., which was adapted in 1939 into a long-running Broadway play by Lindsay and Crouse, which was, in turn, made into a 1947 movie and a television series.-The book:Clarence Day wrote...
(1947) and his earlier character of Henry Aldrich
The Aldrich Family
The Aldrich Family, a popular radio teenage situation comedy , was also presented in films, television and comic books. In the radio series' well-remembered weekly opening exchange, awkward teen Henry's mother called, "Hen-reeeeeeeeeeeee! Hen-ree Al-drich!", and he responded with a breaking...
.
Listen to
- Glowing Dial: Gasoline Alley: "The Adventure of Jealous Jessica" (1948-49)
- Radio America: Gasoline Alley, October 29, 1948.